Peiron
by SolarCat
Summary: A deeper look at the events of Episode 7, semisequel to The Morning After. SoraSunao, implied YoruRan. Please review if you want me to do the rest of the episode!


**A/N**: Hey, all! Well, I had a lot of people who reviewed my other Sukisho fic, "The Morning After," ask for more. So, tonight I was watching and I realized that there was probably a lot I could do with episode 7, and I decided to write a semi-sequel to "TMA" based on that.

Most of this fic is not exactly mine. I believe all of the spoken dialogue is direct from the show, in this case taken from the DVD version recently put out by AnimeWorks. The translation credit goes to them. While the events are taken exactly from the show, I think I've added a lot to it, and I hope that those of you who enjoyed "The Morning After" will enjoy this humble submission as well.

**Disclaimer**: Most of this fic is not mine. I don't own the characters, the events, the dialogue, or much of anything. I do own my interpretation of the events, and anything that appears here that does not explicitly appear in episode 7. As for archiving, just ask!

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**Peiron** – (Chapter 1?)

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Sunao hadn't meant to say it. It had just come out, as the two big rowers lifted him toward the bowl of water. It wasn't as though he could drown in a little bowl of water, but the fear had reared up inside him and it had come spilling out.

"Stop it! I can't swim! I'm afraid of water!"

The words had barely left his mouth before he realized what he had just admitted to. It wasn't... it wasn't that bad, but the reactions of the boys who had him, the reactions of every member of the Peiron team, all of whom had just been witnesses to his confession... Whatever defense had dropped in the face of that paralyzing fear snapped back into place.

"What! So what if I can't swim?" Sunao snapped, not even bothering to fight against their hold. They laughed. All of them, they were all laughing at him, and he was ashamed. It was ridiculous, why should he care what a bunch of dumb jocks thought of him? But there was Matsuri-chan, still wearing that stupid dragon hat, and Hashiba.

Hashiba. Sora. Staring at him in shock. Was he laughing, too?

"You can't swim, but you want to help us?" The Captain was laughing too. Like it was the stupidest thing he ever heard. It was there, ringing in his voice -- even if you could swim, you still wouldn't be good enough. They weren't even holding him anymore, but he couldn't make himself move. Sunao stared at the ground, wishing that it would swallow him up.

"What the hell's so funny?"

Everyone's attention turned, and Sunao looked up, slack-jawed, at the barely-contained outrage in that familiar voice. Hashiba...

"You people are the ones who are funny."

Hashiba was... defending him? He wasn't laughing at him?

"Oh, this is getting interesting." The Captain turned to Sora, "Why don't you face one of my members to show us what you've got?" He paused as the chosen member cracked his knuckles. "Don't worry, he'll take it easy on you," he continued condescendingly.

"Tch." Sora frowned then turned his back on the shorter boy, holding his hand up as though to wave the challenge away. "I thought that being earnest was the only virtue for you muscle heads." It was the Captain's turn to huff, now. "Not only are you people stupid," Sora continued, "but crooked by nature as well." By now, the Captain was was nearly vibrating with contained anger. He turned on the chosen rower.

"You better not lose this!" He barked, determination in his voice. The rower just laughed and assured him it was under control.

Sora smirked at the bigger boy. "I'll beat some sense into you!" He promised, determined in his own right. Sora had no interest at all in the Peiron competition, but these idiots had put that look of shame and self-loathing on Fujimori's face. He didn't have the best-developed sense of justice in the world, but as soon as he had seen that look clouding the other boy's face, his heart constricted. He would _not_ let this pass, even if he got killed in the attempt.

Sunao watched in disbelief as Sora goaded the Captain into a fury. It didn't make any sense. He wasn't even really _nice_ to Hashiba. He certainly had done nothing to deserve being rescued like this. Well, they had... but that had been Ran! Ran and Yoru, not them! He had been sure that after all that, Hashiba would never even want to look at him again. But then, here he was, and all Sunao could bring himself to do was look on in disbelief that Hashiba would do something like this for... him...

He watched from the sidelines with Matsuri as the Peiron team did their best to break the blue-haired boy -- running him ragged, electrifying the flagpole -- and then the last straw. One of the big team members dropped that rock on Sora's head, and Sunao couldn't take it anymore.

"Stop it already!" He darted forward to face the Captain, adopting his best fighting pose and determined not to back down. Hashiba had saved him... what had he done in return? "This is too harsh!"

"Then why don't you take over for him?" The boy shot back, a smirk in his voice. Sunao turned and stared at the struggling Sora. Water... Even for Hashiba... It was water, and he was scared. The indecision tore into him.

Before he could act, Sora managed to lift himself and the rock just enough to pull his face out of the bowl. He collapsed onto the ground.

"Sora!" Matsuri yelled and ran forward toward their friend.

"Hashiba!" Sunao followed him, guilt tugging his heart toward his feet.

The Captain got to Sora before they did, dumping a bucket of water on the half-drowned boy's face. Sunao wanted to kill him.

"You dirty bastard!" Sora was on his feet, and it seemed that he might do the killing before Sunao could get to it.

"Welcome to the Peiron Club!" The Captain smiled cheerfully, and all of Sora's ire fell away in shock. "We welcome you!"

Sunao couldn't believe his ears. He was barely aware of shaking hands with one of the idiot jocks, his attention fixed on his roommate and friend. Was Sora really okay? And how could that Captain be so cheerful after nearly killing him! He watched, anger rising in him as the Captain continued to gush over Sora, and when the other boy hugged Sora around the neck, Sunao again felt the urge to kill him. How dare he? How _dare_ he! And how dare Hashiba not shove him off right away! Hashiba... Sora... Sora was _his_, damnit! And how could he ignore the one he had gone to such trouble to save?

"What is he getting all serious about?" He grumbled aloud. "Stupid!"

Sora heard him, and for a brief moment he wondered if Sunao had forgotten exactly why he had nearly gotten himself killed in the first place.

"What did you say?" He yelped angrily, mentally berating himself for speaking without fully thinking it through first but unwilling to take it back in front of all these people. "I did this for you, too. You should show some appreciation!"

He tried, but it was so hard not to be angry. He had done this for Fujimori. So Fujimori didn't have to. How could he have forgotten that so quickly? Did everything that Sora did mean so little to him? For some reason the thought was more depressing than Sora thought it should have been. At the very least, he could say 'thank you'...

Sunao gulped. What did Sora want him to do? Act like some rescued princess, fawning over her shining knight? He wouldn't. He couldn't. Though he knew he acted cold, his pride was a delicate thing, and it had already been shattered once that day. He couldn't allow himself to be anything but strong in front of these people... and especially in front of Sora. Damnit, he wasn't some little girl who needed saving! _Except you did._ He reminded himself, _and he did save you._ Sunao closed his eyes briefly and composed himself.

"I never asked for this in the first place." He declared, hoping with one breath that Sora could see through his barely-there defenses and hoping with the next that he never would.

"What a punk." Sora scoffed, turning away. Sunao felt a little bit of his heart crumble.

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Hours later, Sunao was still thinking about it. He supposed that he should be readying himself for bed, but all he could manage to do was watch as Sora stripped his shirt off, exposing the smooth planes of his shoulders, stomach and back. Sunao felt his face heat up.

Even though he hadn't exactly been in his right mind then, he still had the body-memory of those expanses of skin, warm and supple against his own. He remembered gentle arms wrapping around him, soft kisses, and lower, something completely different tearing him apart and making him feel whole all at once.

He didn't know if it was a real memory or just his imagination, but whatever it was it sent a jolt of fire straight through him to settle in his groin. He felt his cock twitch and his face exploded with red as he fumbled to hide it, turning quickly away from Sora and burying himself under his covers.

"Don't try anything funny tonight!" He heard himself say, and he wondered if maybe his brain had some sort of automatic masochistic mode that was designed to make Sora hate him.

"You too!" issued from the other side of the room, and Sunao heard the covers rustle as Sora tucked himself into bed. Sora's bed. Where they... Yoru and Ran had... Sunao knew he would get no sleep even if he tried. But there was something that was bothering him, and maybe, while Sora slept, he could do something about it.

Tbc...?

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**A/N**: Whatever you thought of this fic, please review. Also, if I get enough call for it, I would be glad to continue on and cover the rest of the episode, so you have to review and ask if you want more!


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